Press Release

RYDE Introduces PopeBus.com for Greater Access to the World Meeting of Families Activities in Philadelphia

Bus Shuttles Utilize SEPTA and Park and Rides in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware to Alleviate High-Volume Traffic to Festival of Families and Papal Mass

Philadelphia, PA, September 16, 2015 --(PR.com)-- RYDE, a crowdsourced long-distance transportation service to live events, has launched PopeBus.com specifically to help transport visitors to the day-long Festival of Families on Saturday September 26 and the 4:00pm Papal Mass September 27 in Philadelphia. PopeBus.com will utilize school buses to pick people up at Park and Rides and large parking lots in designated counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware to deliver them to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) train locations. Passengers will arrive well inside the Francis Festival Grounds, hence reducing the projected three-plus mile walk from other locations. The Park and Ride strategy targets regional travelers who are concerned about the traffic and parking problems forecasted to exist throughout the Philadelphia area.

PopeBus.com’s partnership with SEPTA is important in that it links the people converging on Philadelphia with a safe and convenient way of attending Papal Weekend events. SEPTA one-day regional rail passes will also be available from PopeBus.com, a significant convenience for attendees.

“The World Meeting of Families will bring an unprecedented number of people to the Parkway, and RYDE is looking to use our service platform to alleviate the strain that massive level of daily visitors will put on the transportation system,” said Bob Aube, Co-Founder of RYDE and PopeBus.com. “With PopeBus.com, we are providing an innovative means of getting into the congested city. We will pick people up at Park and Rides listed on our website, and link directly with SEPTA locations. SEPTA has lots of tickets left, but there is limited parking at the stations in comparison to the number of train tickets sold…and hence our innovative partnership.”

Stated Andrew Ballard, World Meeting of Families, Transportation Consultant: “The World Meeting of Families and GO GROUND are very excited to see that RYDE and PopeBus.com are the first to embrace our proposed shuttle solution. This enables those who wish to experience the Papal Weekend to more easily access the WMOF festivities via Regional Rail Service. This service will keep buses in the outlying suburbs. We are working hard to make this a wonderful event for the attendees, and we support RYDE’s efforts to complement our plans.”

PopeBus.com has begun seat reservations via their website, and they have already secured the school buses from First Student – a leading supplier of school buses – to carry passengers from the Park and Rides to the train stations. For passenger convenience, tickets for both the bus shuttle and the $10 SEPTA daily pass train tickets will be available as a package from PopeBus.com. For some, this package deal may be the best way to obtain SEPTA train tickets as the event draws closer. Event-day ticket purchases are not available from SEPTA.

PopeBus.com Pick-Up LocationsThe PopeBus.com shuttle buses will pick up passengers from Park and Rides counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. The buses will return to those locations at the end of the each day. PopeBus.com and SEPTA have assigned Pennsylvania stations Pennbrook, Norristown, Media, Levittown, Woodbourne, as well as Eastwick and Wilmington, Delaware as the target locations for the PopeBus.com drop-offs; return trips will pick up from these same locations. The trains will be dropping passengers off at the Jefferson, 30th street, and University City locations, a 0.8 /1.3/1.8 mile walk respectively to the parkway.

PopeBus.com Seat InformationSeats may be purchased at PopeBus.com. The website provides additional information on all the pick-up locations and times. Round trip tickets may be purchased on PopeBus.com for $15, $29, and $49 depending on travel distance. RYDE also offers motorcoach options for large groups coming from many surrounding states; please call 800.741.7933 or email at info@RYDEthere.com for more information.

About RYDERYDE, based in Los Angeles, CA, is an innovative transportation services company that redefines the process by which passengers are transported to music festivals, religious events, sporting events, ski resorts, concerts, and conventions. Delivering a fun, convenient, affordable, and comfortable driving experience above the traffic and parking hassles, RYDE positively impacts the environment by taking 20-35 cars off the road for every bus run. For more information, go to www.RYDEthere.com.